Soundcard and/or Headset upgrade?

1. Many sound cards now have the ability to simulate surround sound over normal stereo headphones. They will probably have "CMSS-3D" or "Dolby" listed somewhere in the features. You may also be interested in the Astro Mixamp, which is an external USB sound card that does surround sound over headphones.

2. "Headset" implies that it must have a microphone built in. Is that a requirement? You will have a greater variety of quality choices if you only need a pair of "headphones" rather than a "headset".

Headphones that are often recommended here for gaming include:

 Audio Technica AD700 (may have weak bass for some people)

 Sennheiser HD555 / HD558

 Sennheiser HD595 / HD598

 AKG K701 / K702 (needs a very powerful amp)

For gaming, you will want headphones with good soundstage. This means being able to hear positional audio better. Virtual surround sound will still work on crappy ear buds. But it gets a lot better if you use headphones with good soundstage. Of the headphones listed above, I have only tried the DT880, and I agree with its recommendation

Lastly, when listening to music, keep the music player's volume at 100% (or close to it). And use the overall system volume control to bring it down to a listenable level. Not really related to your question, but I thought this might be one reason why you are finding your music to suddenly have less kick than before.

You could also get a separate mic. Some have modded their headphones into headsets by attaching a mic to it with glue or some such. There are also mics that you can clip onto a headphone cable.

About internal soundcards, sorry but I'm not too familiar with those. Maybe someone else will come along and post recommendations. You can also try browsing the other threads in the forum for some ideas. Personally I prefer external ones because I use a Mac that has no internal expansion slots, and also because USB devices are easier to sell later on if I upgrade.

I've seen a rather interesting mod to a pair of ATH-AD700 with a separate mic, turning it into a much higher quality headset, compared to the current offers out there.

About soundcards, what exactly do you look for? Because if you plan on doing any serious gaming, you have to go with either a Creative X-Fi soundcard (NOT any XtremeAudio model) or Auzentech soundcards powered by X-Fi chipsets.

In my opinion get an Auzentech or Xonar if you care for music quality, if you also game a lot then an Auzentech X-Fi is your best bet. Grados are not really recommended for gaming but they are amazing for rock and metal, but if you want to play games then you'll have to buy the Senns 555 I guess. Another option is buying the Grados now and get another headphones in the future for gaming and movies.

That's not true, actual cards can be very good for music, just avoid Creative unless you want to buy the new Titanium HD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibex333 

I am looking to upgrade my sound card and my headset, but I am looking for something that will give me a clear, noticeable performance difference.

Many times I wanted to get a newer model Sound Blaster card from newegg, but many folks tell me not to waste my money. Apparently, my 8 year old sound card is just as good as these newer ones when it comes to music listening and game playing if not better?! What gives?

What about al lthat "special" stuff they advertize about newer games giving you the sense of 3d sound with good soundcards.. making you hear how the enemy is coming up on you from behind, etc... I am sure as hell not spending $500 on a 5.1 Surround Speaker setup.... But is there any other way to achieve similar effects wit ha good soundcard and headset?

What are my options, if any? I dont know if it is my soundcard degrading or my headset but I can clearly see how the music I play just doent have the kick it used to. It's just not as loud... Not as crisp.... Maybe I just need to get a better headset and be done with it?

I am using a Sennheiser PC 150 the these have very good reviews. My headset is very old though, and beat up to all hell.

Well, why not you take a look at the bundle offer by asus , Asus Xonar Xense with PC350. 

ibex333, you didn't state what your specs are, with what gear you're listening to. If you really game as you say so, you have to get a Creative X-Fi soundcard (XtremeGamer or XtremeMusic would be more than enough) or Auzentech X-Fi. Forget those Xonar soundcards, they're not for gaming, despite how much they advertise their GX 3D sound emulation. If you're coming from anything resembling an onboard audio chipset, then the difference is drastic when going for a X-Fi.